


The Art of Not Caring

by tabbytabbytabby



Series: Thiam Prompts [14]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Future Fic, Getting Together, Good Theo Raeken, Hurt Theo Raeken, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Oblivious Theo, Post-Series, Theo cares, he just won't admit it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-09 18:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12894132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: One thing Theo Raeken has sure of is that he doesn't care, not about anyone but himself. He knows he has a reputation for being selfish and he's okay with that. He's better off that way. He's just not prepared for Liam Dunbar changing all that.





	The Art of Not Caring

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this post](https://glitter-cake20.tumblr.com/post/168113284631/whumprat-good-shit-when-a-character-with-a) from tumblr
> 
> This has not been beta read so any mistakes are my own. If you see any please point them out and I'll get them fixed.

Theo is fine with not caring for anyone but himself. It’s how he’s always gotten by. If he doesn’t care he has less to lose. It’s easier. He knows his reputation. Knows that everyone sees him as a selfish uncaring asshole. He prefers it that way. He knows it’s better for him if everyone keeps their distance.

Which is why it’s pretty annoying when he suddenly starts finding himself at the McCall packs beck and call. He tells himself it’s for his own benefit, if he stays on their good side then it would be good for him in the long run if he ever winds up needing something from them.

If he happens to spend most of that time with Liam well that’s just an accident and totally not on purpose. It’s not like he actively seeks out Liam’s company. He can barely stand the kid. He doesn’t enjoy his company or listening to Liam talk about history or the way his eyes flash with a mixture between delight and annoyance when they argue. He _doesn’t_ enjoy it.

It’s no surprise when he gets called in for back up during a fight. Some of Monroe’s hunters have made their way back into town thinking they can finish the job Monroe started. Scott gets a heads up from Chris warning him that he saw one of their SUVs at the gas station. Theo just happens to be with Liam when he gets the call for an emergency pack meeting. He’s tempted to just let Liam go on his own but Liam doesn’t give me the chance, practically pulling him out of the house and ordering Theo to drive to Scott’s.

“You know I’m not your chauffeur,” Theo tells him, “you have your license so you could just drive yourself.”

Liam glances over at him, “Why would I do that when we’re going to the same place? Plus, your truck is bigger than my car.”

“Why would I be going to Scott’s?” Theo asks, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel, “he called _you_ not me.”

“It was implied. He knew you would be with me so of course he’d want you there. We’re going to need your help.”

“Why? So you can use me as bait? Toss me to the hunters to buy you some time to figure out how to deal with them?”

Liam furrows his brow, confusion clear on his face, “No. Because you’re good in a fight, and you know we work well together.”

Theo can’t deny that’s true. Despite the fact that they can barely stand each other the two of them are surprisingly good at fighting side by side, able to sense what the other is planning to do without either one having to say it. Theo never lets himself think too long on why that is.

Scott’s plans turns out to be having a meeting with the hunters in the preserve, hoping to talk them down and prevent a fight. Theo can tell by the looks on everyone else’s faces that they don’t quite think the plan will work. Honestly, Theo doesn’t either. These hunters are part of Monroe’s group, he doubts they’re exactly going to be open to talking. Sometimes Theo really hates when he’s right.

Theo, Liam, Scott, Stiles, Derek, Malia, Lydia, and Jordan show up to the meeting. The hunters outnumber them, and Theo is very aware of other eyes on them from the trees. He has a really bad feeling about the way this is going to play out. Scott starts giving his speech about wanting there to be peace between them, that there shouldn’t be any need for fighting. The head hunter only smirks as he and the other hunters raise their guns.

All hell breaks loose after that. There’s guns firing and growling and bodies flying into trees. Theo isn’t sure if that last one is from the wolves or Stiles utilizing his spell casting. From the smirk Stiles gives him he figures it’s the latter.

Theo sees the hunter heading for Liam before anyone else does, but Liam remains unaware. His attention is focused on another hunter he’s fighting off. Theo doesn’t think before charging at the hunter, stopping him before he can get anywhere near Liam.

He knocks the gun from the hunters grip and the two of them start rolling on the ground, fists flying. Theo gets the upper hand, pinning the man underneath him. He knows better than to kill him, but he can’t just let him walk away from here either.

Theo raises his fist, preparing to knock the man out when he feels a sharp pain in his stomach. He looks down to see the man smiling up at him, knife firmly implanted into Theo’s abdomen. Growling, Theo brings his fist down, knocking the man out before carefully removing the knife.

He gets to his feet, determined to get to back to the fight. He knows the wound will heal. He’s suffered worse than that before. He’s happy to see that no one seems to have noticed the incident so he doesn’t have to explain what happened. The last thing he needs is the pack assuming Theo cares just because he stopped the hunter from going after Liam. He did it for himself. If something happened to Liam and there was something he could have done to stop it and Scott found out… well Hell might be pleasant compared to what would happen to him. It has nothing to do with him not wanting to see Liam getting hurt. Not at all.

He spots another hunter coming towards him and bares his fangs, his eyes flashing as he charges towards the guy. This fight seems harder than before, despite the fact that the man is smaller than the other hunter. He’s all too aware of the pain in his stomach and that his senses seemed dulled but pushes himself to keep fighting, reminding himself that it’s nothing too serious.

“Dude are you alright?” Liam asks, shooting a worried look towards Theo.

“I’m fine,” Theo says, barely sparing a glance for Liam. He needs to keep his attention on the hunter. Especially since he’s having such a hard time focusing.

“Are you sure?” Liam says, barely dodging a kick to the head, “because you normally don’t work up this much of a sweat over a fight.”

“Stop worrying about me and worry about yourself,” Theo tells him, “I’m not going to be held responsible if you get shot because you weren’t paying attention.”

Liam glares but goes back to his fight, only shooting one more worried look in Theo’s direction.

The fight ends with all the hunters tied up, waiting for Argent to transport them off somewhere. Theo is finding it hard to catch his breath, the world around him feeling blurry. Whatever this is, it doesn’t feel right. There had to have been something on the knife if it’s affecting him like this. That thought makes him turn around, wanting to find the knife and have it examined. When he turns the world tilts and he goes down.

“Theo!” Liam’s worried face suddenly appears in his line of sight, “Theo? What the hell? I thought you said you were fine! What happened?”

“I thought I was fine,” Theo says, unable to resist the urge to cough. He feels arms on his shoulders, rolling him onto his side, allowing him to cough up whatever needs to come out. It’s all black. That’s definitely not a good sign.

“Yeah because taking a knife to the abdomen always means fine,” Derek says, staring down at him.

“For us it usually does.”

“You were stabbed? When?”

“It doesn’t matter. It happened. It’s over. But I’m pretty sure there was something on the knife.”

Derek kneels down next to Theo, lifting up his shirt to examine the wound. There black lines all around it, “Wolfbane. We’re going to need to burn it out of you.”

“Yeah okay,” Theo nods, watching as Derek starts talking to Scott, most likely looking for a lighter.

“If you were hurt you should have said something,” Liam tells him.

“We were in the middle of a fight Liam. Injuries happen. I didn’t think it was anything to worry about.”

“Except it was. It _is_. If we hadn’t caught this…”

Theo gives a bitter laugh, “Then I’d be dead and you wouldn’t have to deal with me anymore. All your problems would be solved.”

“Shut up,” Liam growls, “you dying would help anything.”

“Careful Liam, one would almost assume you care.”

“Would that really be so surprising?” Liam asks.

“Considering everything I’ve put you and your back through? Yes. I’m a selfish asshole Liam. We both know it.”

“I can’t disagree that you’re an asshole,” Liam says, “but you’re not exactly selfish. Not anymore. You’d like people to believe you are, thinking if people think you don’t care they’ll stay away from you. But I know that’s bullshit. You can pretend all you want but I know there is a part of you that cares. Part of you that is good and wants to be better, I’ve seen it myself. It’s bigger than you might realize. _That’s_ the Theo I care for.”

“He has a point,” Stiles says, handing Derek a lighter, “if you didn’t care you wouldn’t have stopped that hunter from going after Liam.”

“I didn’t…”

Derek grins as he puts the lighter to Theo’s skin, gesturing at Liam to hold him down. Theo growls and thrashes, almost throwing Liam off once. But then Derek is finishing, examining the slowly healing wound with a nod before looking back up at Theo. “You did. You saw him going after Liam and went right for him.”

Liam stares at him for a moment, “Wait… you stopped a hunter from attacking me? Was it the same one that stabbed you?”

Theo sighs, “It was.”

“You idiot,” Liam mutters, surprising Theo by leaning down and kissing him. Theo barely has a chance to return the kiss before Liam is pulling back, “I knew you cared.”

Theo wants to deny it but he knows there’s no point. He was sure he was fooling everyone but all along the only person he was trying to fool was himself. Try as he might somewhere along the way he had started to care for Liam, more than he’s cared for anyone. That thought should terrify him. He’s never let anyone this close to him before. But it’s Liam.

“If I care it’s your fault,” Theo says, but he finds himself smiling.

Liam smiles, “That’s something I’m more than happy to take credit for.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos/Comments make my day <3  
> Currently taking prompts for Thiam and/or Sterek from [this list](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/post/167494209818/prompt-list) or [this list](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/post/168056218878/dialogue-prompts) or any other prompts (:


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